Single Stack Wafer Dispenser

ABSTRACT

A dispenser ( 10 ) having a housing ( 20 ), a peripheral annular shoulder ( 30 ), a wafer package ( 60 ), and a lever ( 70 ). The housing ( 20 ) defines a longitudinal axis and a retention chamber ( 23 ) with a dispensing orifice ( 25 ) proximate the periphery of the base ( 21 ). The peripheral annular shoulder ( 30 ) is proximate the base ( 21 ) and spaced above the base ( 21 ) in the first longitudinal direction X 1  to define a gap ( 40 ) between the base ( 21 ) and the shoulder ( 30 ). The wafer package ( 60 ) is configured and arranged to fit completely within the retention chamber ( 23 ) of the housing ( 20 ). The lever ( 70 ) is pivotally attached to the housing ( 20 ) and has an arm ( 71 ) and a push rod ( 72 ). The push rod ( 72 ) is attached to the distal end ( 71   a ) of the arm ( 71 ) wherein the distal end ( 72   a ) of the push rod ( 72 ) radially extends into the gap ( 40 ).

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/990,953, filed Nov. 29, 2007.

BACKGROUND

Taking communion is a common practice in many churches. Part of communion involves receiving a communion wafer or host. The common practice is for a church official to pick up the wafers from a plate and hand them to members of the congregation. As communion often occurs in the middle of a service there is not an opportunity for the church official to wash his or her hands prior to the handing out of the wafers. The wafers are also exposed to the air before, during and after the offering of communion. This exposes the wafers to any contaminates that may be in the air. This can be of particular concern to members of the congregation during the cold and flu season.

The Host dispenser disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,669 ('669 Patent) attempts to solve the problem of wafer contamination during communion. The '669 Patent discloses a wafer dispenser that stores a plurality of communion wafers in a chamber. The plurality of wafers must be stacked and inserted into the dispenser prior to use. The dispenser has a dispensing mechanism which partially ejects one wafer at a time from the dispenser

Requiring the wafers to be manually stacked and inserted into the dispenser still exposes the wafers to contamination. There is the potential for contamination by the individual handling the wafers to insert them into the dispenser. Another draw back of the '669 Patent dispenser is that since the wafers are directly put into the dispenser, if one is incorrectly inserted in to the dispenser it can become stuck within the dispenser causing a disruption in the service to allow the dispenser to be fixed, to again freely dispense the wafers. If more than the expected number of people come to communion the service can also be disrupted to allow for the refilling of the dispenser, which takes considerable time due to the need to insert the wafers individually into a stack in the dispenser.

Therefore, a need exists for a wafer dispenser that eliminates the need to handle the wafers individually at any time to decrease the chance of contamination of the wafers and is easily filed and used during communion to decrease disruption of the service.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A dispenser having a housing, a peripheral annular shoulder, a wafer package, and a lever. The housing has a base and sidewalls extending longitudinally upward from the base to define a longitudinal axis and a retention chamber with a dispensing orifice proximate the periphery of the base. The peripheral annular shoulder is proximate the base and spaced above the base in the first longitudinal direction to define a gap between the base and the shoulder wherein the shoulder is discontinued at the dispensing orifice so as to create a wafer drop zone within the gap. The wafer package has a closed end, an open end, and sidewalls extending longitudinally downward from the closed end. The package is configured and arranged to fit completely within the retention chamber of the housing and the open end to be supported by the shoulder to define a storage chamber. The storage chamber is configured and arranged to hold a plurality of wafers in a longitudinally stacked fashion therein. The lever is pivotally attached to the housing. The lever has an arm and a push rod. The arm has a distal end. The push rod is attached to the distal end of the arm wherein the distal end of the push rod radially extends into the gap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of the dispenser with a wafer package inserted.

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of a cross section of the dispenser in FIG. 1 along line 2-2 with the entire wafer package and lever displayed.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the dispenser in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side perspective view of the dispenser in FIG. 2 with the wafer package removed.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the dispenser in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is side perspective view of the lever in FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the lever in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a top perspective view of the wafer package in FIG. 1 with wafers in the storage chamber.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Nomenclature

-   10 Dispenser -   20 Housing -   21 Housing base -   22 Sidewalls -   23 Retention chamber -   24 Longitudinal axis -   25 Dispensing orifice -   26 Locking finger -   30 Shoulder -   40 Gap -   50 Wafer drop zone -   60 Wafer package -   61 Closed end -   62 Open end -   63 Sidewalls -   64 Storage chamber -   70 Lever -   71 Arm -   71 a Distal end -   71 b Proximal end -   72 Push rod -   72 a Distal end -   72 b Proximal end -   72 c Upper corner -   73 Lateral pivot axis -   74 Biasing Means -   100 Wafer -   X₁ First longitudinal direction -   X₂ Second longitudinal direction -   Y Lateral direction -   Z₁ First transverse direction -   Z₂ Second transverse direction

Construction

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, one embodiment of the dispenser 10 comprises a housing, 20 a peripheral annular shoulder 30, a wafer package 60, and a lever 70. The housing 20 may have a base 21 and sidewalls 22. The sidewalls 22 extend in the first longitudinal direction X₁ from the base 21 to define a longitudinal axis 24 and a retention chamber 23. Preferably the housing 20 is open at the top (not numbered) to allow access into the retention chamber 23.

The housing 20 may have a removable lid (not shown) to cover the top of the housing 20 and enclose the retention chamber 23 between the base 21 and the lid. Preferably no lid is used with the dispenser 10. In the preferred embodiment the sidewalls 22 have an inwardly biased locking finger 26 proximate the top of the housing 20 and protruding into the retention chamber 23.

The housing 20 also has a dispensing orifice 25 proximate the periphery (not numbered) of the base 21. The dispensing orifice 25 may be sized and shaped to allow a wafer 100 to exit the housing 20. The housing 20 may be made from any suitable material such as plastic, metal, wood, or glass. The most preferred material is plastic.

As shown in FIG. 4, the dispenser 10 has a peripheral annular shoulder 30 proximate the base 21. The shoulder 30 is spaced above the base 21 in the first longitudinal direction X₁ to define a gap 40 between the shoulder 30 and the base 21. See FIG. 3. The shoulder 30 is discontinued at the dispensing orifice 25 so as to create a wafer drop zone 50 within the gap 40.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the dispenser 10 has a wafer package 60. The wafer package 60 has an open end 62, a closed end 61, and sidewalls 63. The sidewalls 63 extend in the second longitudinal direction X₂ from the closed end 61. The wafer package 60 is configured and arranged to fit completely within the retention chamber 23 of the housing 20. The open end 62 of the wafer package 60 is configured and arranged to be supported by the shoulder 30 when the wafer package 60 is completely inserted into the retention chamber 23. The wafer package 60 is also configured and arranged to define a storage chamber 64. As shown in FIG. 8, the storage chamber 64 is configured and arranged to hold a plurality of wafers 100 in a longitudinally stacked fashion. The wafer package 60 may also have a cap (not numbered) configured and arranged to seal the open end 62 of the wafer package 60 to prevent the wafers 100 from exiting the storage chamber 64 when the wafer package 60 is not inserted into the retention chamber 23.

The wafer package 60 may be made from any suitable material such as metal, glass, or plastic. The preferred material is transparent plastic. Most preferably the wafer package 60 is made from a clear transparent plastic. Utilizing clear, transparent plastic may allow the user to see if the wafers 100 are properly aligned in the wafer package 60 prior to insertion into the dispenser 10.

As seen in FIGS. 2-4 and 6, the dispenser 10 has a lever 70 having at least an arm 71 and a push rod 72. The arm 71 is attached to the housing 20 about a lateral pivot axis 73 for pivoting the lever 70 between a rest position and an ejection position. The arm 71 has at least a distal end 71 a and a proximal end 71 b. Preferably the arm 71 also has a biasing means 74 for biasing the lever 70 toward the rest position. The biasing means 74 may be a compression spring, tension spring, coil spring, cantilever spring, rubber diagram, rubber band, or any other means known in the art for biasing. The most preferred biasing means 74 is a cantilever spring.

The push rod 72 has at least a proximal end 72 a and a distal end 72 b. The distal end 71 b of the arm 71 is attached to the proximal end 72 a of the push rod 72. As shown in FIG. 6, the distal end 72 b of the push rod 72 preferably has an upper corner 72 c extending in the first longitudinal direction X₁. Most preferably the upper corner 72 c is beveled. The beveled upper corner 72 c may allow the lever 70 to accommodate the ejection of wafers 100 having varying thickness.

The distal end 72 a of the push rod 72 radially extends into the gap 40 when the lever 70 is in the rest position. When the lever 70 is pivoted into the ejection position the distal end 72 b of the push rod 72 moves further into the gap 40 in the first transverse direction Z₁ to push a wafer 100 in the wafer drop zone 50 in the gap 40 out through the dispensing orifice 25.

The lever 70 may be made from any suitable material such as metal, wood, or plastic. The preferred material is plastic. The lever 70 may also be integrally formed to reduce the risk of malfunction and minimize the motion and force needed to dispense a wafer 100.

Use

The dispenser 10 may be used to dispense any type of wafer shaped food such as cookies, crackers, or communion hosts. To use the dispenser 10 a wafer package 60 containing the particular type of food wafer 100 to be dispensed is obtained. If the wafer package 60 has a cap covering the open end 62 of the wafer package 60 it may be removed. Preferably the dispenser 10 is then inverted so that the base 21 is above the opening in the top of the housing 20 to allow access to the retention chamber 23. The open end 62 of the wafer package 60 is then inserted into the retention chamber 23 until the open end 62 of the wafer package 60 rests on the shoulder 30 of the housing 20 and the closed end 61 is engaged by the locking finger 26 to prevent the wafer package 60 from exiting the retention chamber 23.

The dispenser 10 may then be turned upright again. Upon turning the dispenser 10 to the upright position a wafer 100 from the wafer package 60 will drop out of the wafer package 60 into the wafer drop zone 50 in the gap 40. The dispenser 10 is then ready for use.

When a wafer 100 is needed to be dispensed a force in the second transverse direction Z₂ is applied to the proximal end 71 b of the arm 71 of the lever 70. Moving the proximal end 71 b of the arm 71 in the second transverse direction Z₂ causes the lever 70 to pivot about the lateral pivot axis 73 and in turn move the distal end 72 a of the push rod 72 in the first transverse direction Z₁ within the gap 40 into the wafer drop zone 50. Upon entering the wafer drop zone 50 the distal end 72 a of the push rod 72 can come in contact with the wafer 100 in the wafer drop zone 50 and push the wafer 100 in the first transverse direction Z₁ out the dispensing orifice 25. The lever 70 then ends in the ejection position.

Upon removal of force to the proximal end 71 b of the arm 71 of the lever 70 the biasing means 74 pivots the lever 70 from the ejection position back into the rest position. When the lever 70 arrives back in the rest position, the distal end 72 a of the push rod 72 moves out of the wafer drop zone 50 allowing the next wafer 100 from the wafer package 60 to exit the storage chamber 64 and enter the wafer drop zone 50. Wafers 100 may continue to be dispensed until the storage chamber 64 of the wafer package 60 is empty.

Once the wafer package 60 is empty, the closed end 61 of the wafer package 60 may be gripped and pulled out of the retention chamber 23 of the housing 20. The dispenser 10 may then be inverted once again and a new wafer package 60 inserted as before.

If the wafer package 60 is not empty upon removal, the dispenser 10 may be inverted once again before removing the wafer package 60 to keep the wafers 100 from exiting the open end 62 of the wafer package 60 during removal. Once the wafer package 60 is removed the cap may be reinserted to keep the wafers 100 fresh and contaminate free until the next use. This same procedure may be used to remove the wafer package 60 during communion if a wafer 100 becomes stuck in the dispenser 10. This allows the stuck wafer 100 to be removed without requiring contamination of the remaining wafers 100 in the wafer package 60. Once the stuck wafer 100 is removed from the dispenser 10, the wafer package 60 may be reinserted into the dispenser 10 and the communion continued. 

1. A dispenser, comprising: (a) a housing with a base and sidewalls extending longitudinally upward from the base to define a longitudinal axis and a retention chamber with a dispensing orifice proximate the periphery of the base; (b) a peripheral annular shoulder proximate the base and spaced above the base in the first longitudinal direction to define a gap between the base and the shoulder wherein the shoulder is discontinued at the dispensing orifice so as to create a wafer drop zone within the gap; (c) a wafer package with a closed end, an open end, and sidewalls extending longitudinally downward from the closed end and configured and arranged to fit completely within the retention chamber of the housing and the open end to be supported by the shoulder to define a storage chamber wherein the storage chamber is configured and arranged to hold a plurality of wafers in a longitudinally stacked fashion therein; and, (d) a lever pivotally attached to the housing having an arm and a push rod wherein (i) a distal end of the arm is attached to the push rod and (ii) a distal end of the push rod radially extends into the gap.
 2. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein the wafer package is transparent.
 3. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein (i) the distal end of the push rod has an upper corner extending in the first longitudinal direction and (ii) the upper corner is beveled. 